CHARLESTON, SC – The average cadet student-athlete at The Citadel is anything but average. They're members of the South Carolina Corps of Cadets. They go to class. They compete against the best the Southern Conference has to offer.

And for some, that's not enough. Many cadet student-athletes take an even less traveled path by majoring in unique or tough fields of study. Some come from unique backgrounds that make the already difficult even more so. And still others contract into the armed forces and have to prepare for their careers in the military after college.

The Citadel Department of Athletics wants to recognize some of those cadet student-athletes who are not just succeeding in competition, but are doing so at a high level while overcoming some of the toughest obstacles.

Alexander McAlear (Sr., Wilmington, N.C.)
Sport: Mixed Rifle
Major: Mechanical Engineering (3.25 GPA)
Contract: Army

Why did you choose to major in mechanical engineering?
AM – "Before I enrolled at The Citadel, I already had an interest in machines and how they work. So, I wanted to learn about the processes for how things are made."

What led you to contacting with the Army?
AM – "I chose to contract with the Army because my sophomore year, they were awarding scholarships and I was able to get a scholarship from them. I will be going into the military police, and I plan to do that for a couple of years. If I enjoy it enough, I'll stay in the Army, but if I don't, after my required time is up, I'll try to transition into something engineering related in the private sector."

Outside of your classes, what are you doing to prepare for your career?
AM – "The biggest thing is working out. Also, every semester we have a field training exercise (FTX), and we actually just had one. It runs from Thursday to Sunday, and the seniors basically help train the underclassmen. This time, we did some work at the range and with land navigation. The group that I was with were freshmen and sophomores. On Friday, we did the new Army Combat Fitness Test and then we cleaned up and went to the range. We shot at the range for the rest of Friday and most of the day on Saturday, and the seniors helped out with cadre and such. The last morning, we did a six-mile ruck march. While we were doing all of that, the juniors did a bunch of land nav."

Do you hold rank in the Corps? What are your responsibilities associated with that role?
AM – "I'm the rifle team captain. I have to make sure everyone is going to practice, and while they're there, if they need help I try to help them out. I make sure the team has good morale, because if everybody is bickering with each other, then we can't really operate as a team at competitions."

Talk a little more about juggling all of your responsibilities with being a student-athlete on the rifle team and your class schedule.
AM – "It's definitely a handful. This semester, I don't have a lot of homework because I'm only taking 15 hours and those classes don't require as much. My junior year, almost all of my classes were mechanical engineering specific, and I was probably doing three-to-four hours of homework each night. When we would go away for competitions, we would leave Friday morning, so I wasn't able to go to class that day and it was tough to find time on Saturdays to do any work because we were shooting all day. Then you add in FTXs, and last year it was two weekends a semester instead of just one. So, there is a lot of time that is taken out of your week for everything. It's a big balance time management."

What is one thing that you will remember down the road about your time at The Citadel?
AM – "The camaraderie between everyone within the Corps. We're all here doing the same thing together. It's a really great brotherhood where we can all lean on each other and work together towards a common goal."


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